Pink Hilts
by Eppoif1
Summary: He seemed friendly enough, in the kind of way Mai was. The '-I don't want to hear you babble, but go ahead anyway because I need a distraction-' kind of friendly.


Chapter 1: Swallowing Sunshine

The attack came in the middle of the night. One second the encampment was quiet and peaceful, well as peaceful as an encampment could get in enemy territory the next it was live with the cries of komodo rhinos, and men being buried by a steady flow of rocks. Azula was up immediately, as was Mai. Ty Lee though, was nowhere to be found, and as quick as it began the attack stopped. Ground seemingly undisturbed, the state of the tents, mounts, and soldiers said otherwise.

"Earthbenders..." Azula muttered disdainfully.

Mai nodded slipping her remaining daggers back inside her sleeve.

"Where's...-" Mai started only to be cut off by Azula's resounding yell.

"**Ty Lee!**"

No answer. Mai and Azula shared a look, they both knew Ty Lee wasn't fool enough to get herself buried in rocks. Yet among the hundred or so people in the entire encampment there wasn't one spot of pink. Ty Lee had been captured.

* * *

He woke to the smell of rotting fruit, and chicken-pig excrement. It was dark, and from the absence of stars, Zuko knew he wasn't outside. He whistled for his ostrich-horse, but received no return squawk. Instead he got a question, "Who's there?"

Zuko came to immediate attention. Searching for the source of the words he met a pair of gray eyes. _'The avatar!'_ Zuko lunged towards them only to be stopped halfway by a set of chains wrapped around his wrists. The prince struggled against the bonds while his own eyes began adjusting to the almost nonexistent light. Yes, the other person's eyes were gray, but his arms were stretched towards not the neck of the avatar, but a girl. She stared at his hands, eyes wide.

"Hi..." She said, eyes still trained on his long dirty fingers.

Zuko blinked, and pulled back. Ashamed at his display, the prince turned away. He heard shuffling, along with some faint clangs of metal before a shaking hand was placed on his shoulder.

Zuko's eyes cut to the left to see the girl beside him, an uneasy smile on her face.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

Zuko shrugged her hand away, and grunted, "I'm fine." before scooting away towards where his chains were bolted into the wall. The girl's face fell before she did likewise, crawling back over to her side of stone room they were both currently entrapped. The dim light came from a slit gap near the ceiling of one the walls. Zuko brought his knees to his chest then placed his arms atop them; he bowed his head until his forehead bumped against his lower thighs, and left it there. Whoever put him here obviously took his Dao, and ostrich-horse. They went through the trouble of chaining him so either they thought he was dangerous without his swords, or based on the fact the girl across from him was given the same treatment, all prisoners were kept like this. Then again he of all people knew that girls could be and were dangerous too. An image water freezing him where his stood flitted across his mind briefly.

The prince observed the room's other occupant through the space in-between his legs. She didn't seem dangerous, in fact she seemed perky. A small smile seemed to linger on her face despite being chained to a wall in a room with no doors.

Ty Lee thought to herself, _'Now how'd I end up here?'_ She tapped a finger to her chin, _'I remember laying next to Mai, she was snoring awfully loud and then there was a loud crash outside. Everything went dark after that...' _

'Maybe whoever put me here can tell me what happened.' Ty Lee threw away the thought of asking the boy, because he didn't look like he knew why he was here either. He seemed friendly enough, in the kind of way Mai was. The _'-I don't want to hear you babble, but go ahead anyway because I need a distraction-'_ kind of friendly.

_'Maybe I could possibly liven up the mood by talking to him!'_ Ty Lee giggled quietly, the boy's aura was a deep red, a good color.

"What's your name?" She asked, looking the at the bundle of peach fuzz atop the boy's head.

The boy looked up, staring blankly for a second before answering. "Lee."

_'That's so cute!'_ Ty Lee's smile grew wider, "Great, my name's-"

Ty Lee was cut off as the wall to Zuko's right opened up wide, a large Earth Kingdom soldier stomped in, a scowl on his lips. He had thick black beard, and starting just over the top of his ears, a long mane of greasy hair falling past his shoulders. On his belt hung two metal hammers.

"Hello, stranger!"

* * *

**A/N: I can't really explain how this one started, it was random thought that I just built on and built on because I found it interesting. The time period here is when Zuko is supposed to be traveling on his own, sometime after his incident in the Earth Kingdom village with that Lee kid. Critiques/Reviews are much appreciated, need to know how I'm doing and all! I'll see you in the next chapter have a great day!**


End file.
